Is National Geographic's Presentation of Sprawl Wrong?

National Geographic magazine published a detailed review of sprawl in the United States in the July, 2001 issue. Several journalists have called the issue a must-read for planners. However, Randal O'Toole of the Thoreau Institute presents a scathing review of the the data used by National Geographic in assembling the article and maps: "The National Geographic Society is famed for its maps. So it must be downright embarrassed at the map that it published on pages 56 and 57 of the July 2001 issue of National Geographic magazine. The map purports to show the extent of urban sprawl in the United States. In fact, it exaggerates the extent of U.S. urban development by nearly ten times.Take, for example, Vermont, nearly a third of which is covered by urban sprawl on National Geographic's map. Yet USDA's 1997 Natural Resources Inventory says that only 3 percent of Vermont has been urbanized."